When Hawker was installed in his barracks and found a private moment, he checked the email. The box was indeed overflowing, but all the messages were pure spam—except for one dated about two weeks ago. When Hawker saw the sender’s name, he ignored all the others and just played that one.
The screen flickered to life with a sharp, clear picture. There was David Green, looking straight at him and smiling.
“Hi, Hawk,” the image said. “I asked around about you and heard you hadn’t gotten home yet but I figured you’d eventually get this message. I tried waiting for you as long as I could—I wanted to tell you all this in person—but... well, you’ll understand when I’m finished.
“First, the good news—as little as there is of it. Lucky came through the war okay, too. We’re both alive and well—or
